The Oyo State Government has set up an emergency situation hub for the victims of the explosion that rocked Ibadan on Tuesday night, killing two people and injuring 77 others.
The hub, located within the premises of the State Housing Corporation, near Bodija Islamic Centre, Ibadan, is meant to collate and coordinate the management of the victims affected by the blast.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Fatai Owoseni, disclosed this on Wednesday while speaking with journalists at the scene of the blast.He said the victims, residents and landlords had been advised to go to the hub and supply the government with useful information, adding that the state government had deployed experts in disaster management in the hub to attend to different situations that might come up.
He said: “We cannot do proper assessment for now. Rescue operations are, however, still ongoing, as victims, landlords and tenants of the estates are still picking their pieces from their houses. We can’t talk to them now for any assessment and evaluation.”
He also warned that there might be secondary explosions, urging people without any important duty at the scene to move away to avoid further loss of lives.
He said: “We can’t ascertain any further security threat around the scene of the blast, as some people here are around to steal people’s property. This set of people is the first security threat here. We cannot say whether there will be a secondary explosion. Therefore, people should stay away from the scene so that if we have any, we will not lose more lives.”
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, but some sources have suggested that it was caused by illegal miners who stored explosive devices in one of the houses in the area.
The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, who visited the scene on Tuesday night, expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased and the injured, and assured them of the government’s support.
He also implored the residents of Oyo State to be more sensitive to the goings-on in their environment, saying: “If you see something, say something.”